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Friday, March 30, 2012

The Skinny: Isles 5, Penguins 3

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 77Isles 5, Penguins 3Josh Bailey scored two goals and added three assists as the Islanders completeda sweep of the home-and-home series with Pittsburgh, defeating the Penguins 5-3before a crowd of 12,108 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Islandershave won three straight and are 5-1-0 in their last six games, enabling them toregain NHL-.500 for the first time since they were 25-25-8.

The Skinny Josh Bailey had thebest offensive night of his career, with two goals and three assists; he alsoextended his point streak to six games (3-9-12). Kyle Okposo scored for the fourthstraight game (matching a career high); he now leads the club with nine goalsin divisional games. Pascal Dupuisextended his point streak to 12 games (9-6-15), matching John Tavares and EricStaal for the longest streak in the NHL this season. Evgeni Malkin now has an NHL-leading 100points; it's the third time in his career that he has done that. The Isles scored ten goals in the two gameswithout getting a point from the Moulson/Tavares/Parenteau line. Marty Reasonerbecame the 321st player in Islander history to score a goal. SteveStaios played in his 997th career game. TheIsles allowed an extra-attacker goal for the second straight game (bothIslander regulation wins). Mark Streit recorded his 200th NHLassist.

The Shots:Isles 4-9-11=24 Penguins 7-7-15=29

As Seen onMSG+Josh Bailey had 6 goals and 8 assists in his first 60games. He is 7-10-17 in the last 16games.

Ghost ofNiklas Andersson

Josh Bailey is the first Islander since Andersson to record five pointsin a game at the Coliseum. Andersson didit on December 10, 1996 in an 8-2 win against Phoenix. This was the 596th (regular season) home gamesince then. John Tavares was the lastIslander to have a 5-point game, doing so on March 16, 2010 in Vancouver. Fiveopponents, including Sidney Crosby, have had a five-point game at the Coliseumin the interim.

Wyatt, It'sYours AgainMarty Reasoner scored his first goal as an Islander, in his 56th game with the club. Wyatt Smith played42 games for the Islanders in 2005-06 and did not score a goal – more gamesthan any forward who never scored.

Home and RoadThe Islanders are 33-33-11 overall and are 16-16-6 at home. It's the first time they have been at .500this late in the season since 2006-07. TheIsles have won 5-out-of-6 for the first time this season.Pittsburgh is 47-24-6 overall and 20-15-4 on the road. It's the firsttime the Penguins have lost two straight since a 6-game skid inlate-December/early-January.

Reversal ofFortuneThe Isles improve to 15-26 in games decided by two goals or more. Pittsburgh is 30-15 in games decided by twoor more.

DivisionalImprovementThe Isles improved to 8-12-3 against Atlantic Division foes (with onegame to play). They were 6-13-5 indivisional games last season. The Islesare 25-21-8 in games outside the Atlantic Division.

StoppingSidneyThe Isles held Sidney Crosby without a point for the 5th time in the last ten games he has played against them. In the other five though, Crosby is 7-13-20against the Isles (with one 6-point, one 5-point, and two 4-point games). Crosby was held pointless in the two games;the first time since 12/29/10-1/1/11 that he failed to register a point inconsecutive games that he has played.

Sweet 16The line of Bailey-Okposo and Nielsen combined for eight points in eachof the last two games. Bailey is 2-6-8,Okposo is 3-1-4 and Nielsen is 2-2-4.

In the NetsAl Montoya stopped 26 as he improved to 8-7-5 on season. Marc Andre Fleury made 19 saves for Pittsburghbut falls to 41-16-14 on the season and 17-6-4 in his career against theIslanders. Fleury has the fifth highest total of career wins against the Islesamong active goalies (Brodeur 49, Lundqvist 24, Biron 21, Theodore 18, Fleury17). The Isles scored 9 goals (and anempty net ) on Fleury in the two games.

Power PlaysThe Islanders went 1-4 on the power play while Pittsburgh was 0-4. Eachteam also scored a shorthanded goal. The Isles are 6-20 in the last six gamesand 9-31 in the last nine games with the extra man; they have connected on thepower play in six straight games for the first time since a six-game stretchOctober 15-October 27, 2010. The Isleshave been shorthanded only 17 times in the last eight games and are 16-17 onthe PK in that stretch.

They Said ItJosh Bailey: "The three of us seem to mesh well together.. we wantto finish the season strong."

They TweetedIt@JesseSpector: Dan Bylsma on howmuch his heart sank when Crosby got hit, and how relieved he was when Crosbyreturned: "Significantly. And significantly." (Crosby was hit in the face by a puck off thestick of Dylan Reese early in the second period)

The Coach "The thing about Josh right now is he is in constant motion…his feetare moving…he's puck-protecting real well…and I think that line… complementseach other really well."

Leading IceMenMark Streit led the Isles with 23:42; Paul Martin led Pittsburgh with 27:07.

In the CircleThe Islanders won 23 draws; the Penguins won 22. John Tavares won 9 of 12 for the Isles; JordanStaal won 8 of 12 for the Pens.

Heavy HittersThe Islanders out-hit Pittsburgh 28:18. NHL hit leader Matt Martin led the way with fivehits. Martin has a club record 354 hits (hits have only been recorded since2005-06) and leads the NHL in hits by a wide margin. He is two hits shy of the NHL record of 356,set by Cal Clutterbuck of Minnesota in 2008-09. Martin has also recorded 13 of the team's 21 fighting majors thisseason.

Lots ofBlocksThe Isles were credited with 13 blocks, led by Travis Hamonic's three. They lead the NHL with 1,288.

Third period goals include 10 empty net goals for the Islanders and anNHL-leading 13 empty-net goals against the Isles.

All-timeWinnersThe Islanders improve to five games over all-time NHL .500 (1346-1341-432in 3,119 games). The Isles have twicethis season been one game below .500. Prior to this season, they had not beenbelow NHL .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16,1978.

Scoring The Isles have scored 108 goals in their 33 wins (3.27 per game) and 76goals in their other 44 games (0-33-11; 1.72 per game). In their 33 regulation losses, the Isles havescored 44 goals (1.33 per game).

Head of theClassJohn Tavares has 196 career points; he is 47 points ahead of MattDuchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close. Tavares also has more goals and more assiststhan any other player in that draft.

Friends,Friends, FriendsMoulson has 34 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 22of them. He has now been on-ice for 58consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 38 of them, dating back to a Moulsongoal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa.

101 NHL GoalsMoulson has 101 career goals (95 as an Islander). While 262 players were selected ahead ofMoulson in the 2003 entry draft, only 18 have more goals.

Road Warrior22 of Moulson's 34 goals have come on the road. Moulson is tied with Marian Gaborik andSteven Stamkos for the NHL lead in this department.

Powerful14 of Moulson's goals have come on the power play. Only James Neal (16) and Scott Hartnell (16)have more. Moulson is the first Islandersince Jason Blake (14 in 2006-07) to have 14 power play goals in a season.

30-30-30Matt Moulson is the first Islander since Ziggy Palffy (1995-96 to1997-98) to have at least three consecutive 30-goal seasons. Only 4 players in Islander history have hadmore thirty goal seasons: Trottier (11), Bossy (10), Gillies (6), LaFontaine(6). Moulson has 95 goals as an Islander – the most by any Islander since thelockout. Moulson has opened the scoring an NHL-leading 11 times this season andthe Isles are 9-1-1 when he does so. Heis the first Islander with at least 11 opening goals since Alexei Yashin had 12in 2001-02.

34-Goal ClubMoulson records the 50th 34-goal season in Islander history,matching Michael Grabner's total from last season. The last Islander to score at least 35 wasJason Blake, who tallied 40 goals in 2006-07. With two more goals, Moulson willbe only the second Islander since Ziggy Palffy (1997-98) to record at least 36goals.

30-30Tavares and Moulson give the Isles two 30-goal scorers for the secondstraight season (Grabner 34, Moulson 31 last year). Prior to last year, theIsles had not had two 30-goal scorers since 2001-02 (Alexei Yashin & MarkParrish). It's the first time since1992-93 and 1993-94 that the Isles have had multiple 30-goal scorers inconsecutive seasons (4 in both 92-93 and 93-94).

20-20-20 x 2Moulson and Tavares are the first Islander teammates to record at leasttwenty goals in three straight seasons since Mark Parrish and Jason Blake didso in 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2005-06. Tavares, by the way, is the fifth player to score at least 20 goals forthe Islanders in each of his first three NHL seasons, joining:· Billy Harris (first six seasons: 1972-73 through 1977-78), · Clark Gillies (five: 1974-75 through 1978-79), · Bryan Trottier(13: 1975-76through 1987-88) and · Mike Bossy (all 10 seasons: 1977-78 through 1986-87).

Leaning on #91John Tavares has 75 points (31-44-75)on 183 Islander goals this season (41.0%). Zigmund Palffy (41.0% in 1997-98) is the only Islander to record pointson over 40% of the team's goals in a complete season. Tavares is the first Islander since AlexeiYashin (75 in 2001-02) to record 75 points in a season.

RoyaltyTavares is the fourth player inIslander history to record at least 75 points at age 21 or younger. The other three have banners hanging at theColiseum: Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Denis Potvin.

Parenteau's Helping HandsPA Parenteau has 49 assists – most by any Islander since Pierre Turgeonhad in 1993-94. He now has 65 points onthe season. His next assist will makehim the first Islander to reach 50 in the last eighteen seasons.

64The Isles now have three players with at least 64 points (Tavares,Moulson, Parenteau). It's the first timesince 1993-94 that the Isles have at least three players with 64 points.

Captain, My Captain

Mark Streit has 44 points. Hejoins a select group of Islander defensemen to record 44 points at least threetimes in his career, and the 1st to do so that frequently in nearly aquarter-century:· Denis Potvin -13 times (1973-74 to 1987-88, except 1979-80and 1986-87)· Tomas Jonsson - 5 times (1982-83 to 1987-88, except1986-87)· Stefan Persson - 3 times (1977-78 to 1980-81,except 1979-80)Only three other Islander defenders have recorded 40 points in the2000s: Tom Poti (2006-07), Adrian Aucoin (2003-04) and Roman Hamrlik(2000-01 and 2002-03).

With 38 assists this season, Streit also joins D. Potvin and Persson asthe only Isles defenders to have at least 3 seasons with at least 38 assists(Potvin -10x, Persson - 3x) He is threeassists shy of becoming the first Islander defenseman since Vladimir Malakhov(47 in 1993-94) to record 41 assists in his season. Both Streit and BryanBerard have had a 40-assist season for the Isles.

IronmanMatt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, has played in all 241 gamessince joining the team. He has nowpassed JP Parise for the fourth longest streak in club history. Moulson'sstreak is the longest for an Islander in the Post-Cup era. Billy Harris played in the first 576 games inIslander history; that figure still stands as the club record.Frans Nielsen and John Tavares have also played in every game thisseason while Mark Streit is the only Islander defender to do so. The Isles have not had as many as fourplayers play in every game since 1986-87.

Okposo in theGrooveKyle Okposo has scored 18 of his 20 goals since the start ofDecember. Okposo has scored 55 of his 64career goals from December-April. It'sthe first time in his career that Okposo has recorded 20 games in a season.

Missing MenMilan Jurcina (healthy) and Evgeni Nabokov (injured) were scratched.Rick DiPietro is on injured reserve. TheIsles have lost 338 man-games to injury so far this season. Kevin Poulin servedas the back-up.

Career Years· Matt Moulson: 34 goals, 30 assists and 64 points are newcareer highs. · PA Parenteau: 49 assists and 65 points are new career highs.He has 16 goals, four shy of his career best.· John Tavares: 32 goals, 43 assists and 75 points are newcareer highs.· Frans Nielsen: 17 goals are a new career-high. He has 43 points, one shy of his career best.· Travis Hamonic: He has 20 assists, one shy of a careerhigh.· Andrew MacDonald: 5 goals are a new career-high. · Matt Martin: 7 goals are a new career high. He has 14 points, two shy of his career best.· Kyle Okposo: 20 goals is a new career high.· Josh Bailey has 13 goals, 18 assists and 31 points. His career highs are 16-19-35.

Season SeriesStatsThe Penguins win the season series four games to two (8 points to 5),however the Islanders close the series by sweeping the home-and-home. It's the first time the Isles have swept ahome/home from Pittsburgh since November 25-26, 2006. The Isles also scored five goals inconsecutive games against Pittsburgh for the first time since 2003.

HappyAnniversary30 years ago tonight (3-29-82): Onthe night that a freshman named Michael Jordan hit the game winning shot togive UNC a national title the Islanders pounded the Rangers 7-3 at MadisonSquare Garden. Islander broadcasterBarry Landers did the game on radio, and then rushed to the hospital to welcomehis only daughter to the world. All-time, the Isles are 8-7-3 on this date, but this was their firstwin since blasting the Bruins 8-2 in 1997.On The FarmJustin DiBenedetto scored two power play goals Tuesday as the SoundTigers rallied from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits to defeat the Worcester Sharks 5-4 atWebster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. The Sound Tigers are 34-24-3-6 overall, andhave won the first two games of their eight game homestand. Bridgeport has 77 points, are tied withConnecticut for the division lead, and with one more victory, hold thetie-breaker. Each team has nine games to play. Bridgeport hosts Springfield,Portland and Manchester this weekend.

Up NextSATURDAY,MARCH 31st BOSTON AT ISLANDERS 1:00PM[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 12:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]The Islanders entertain the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins onSaturday, as they look to go over NHL-.500 for the first time since October 20th,and the first time this late in the season since 2007. The Bruins defeated theIslanders 6-2 and 6-0 in November but the Islanders responded with a 3-2 win inBeantown earlier this month.

Eric Hornick has been the statisticianon Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "TheSkinny" has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick